The Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates Commission held its annual regional OLIPPAC conference from the 11th-15th July 2011 in Kokopo, East New Britain Province.

The conference involved discussion on political and legal issues affecting the nation, in particular the administration of OLIPPAC and how it is shaping the political landscape of Papua New Guinea and was attended by East New Britain Governor, Honourable Leo Dion, Former Governor General, Grand Chief Sir Paulius Matane, Former Prime Minister Sir Rabbie Namaliu, Acting ENBP Provincial Administrator, Presidents of ENBP Local Level Governments, various governmental departments, academics from Papua New Guinea, Australia and a delegation from Vanuatu who came as observers. Other stakeholders included executives of political parties in PNG and NGOs in and around the region.

During that conference the Gaire Dialogue was endorsed and will be a template for the Kokopo Communique that will pave way for necessary legislative changes to the OLIPPAC.

At the same time the first OLIPPAC Book Volume One which was compiled from the first OLIPPAC conferences was launched by Sir Rabbie Namaliu.

Story by Lorraine Wotomu

More pictures can be viewed here

Registry Staff Participates in the Walk against Corruption

The Registry Staff took part in the Walk against Corruption on Sunday 12th June 2011.

The office staff comprising of: Sir Kina Bona KBE (Registrar), Mr. John Bishop (Director Funding & Disclosure), Mr. Peter Wotomu, (Director Coperate Services), Maria Fraghi, Wilson Andayu, Henao Lister, Anton Napia and Lorraine Wotomu participated in the walkton

The walk against Corruption was led by the chief Ombudsman, most statutory bodies, government departments, NGOs, schools, businesses houses and the general public.

The teams assembled as early as 5am at the Jack Pidik Park (5mile) dressed in uniforms and banners with anti-corruption messages.

The Registry’s anti-corruption message for the Walk was “Eliminate Corruption and Prosper Papua New Guinea”.

The Walk began on the Hubert Murray Highway, through Boroko drive then  into Kaubebe street and out to Bisini Parade, up to Lahara Avenue and back on Hubert Murray Highway for the finishing point.

The Sir Anthony Siaguru Walk against Corruption is an annual community event organised by Transparency International Papua New Guinea (TIPNG) that generates awareness on corruption. more pics

story & pic - Lorraine Wotomu

The OLIPPAC workshop in Gaire was held on the 12-15 of April 2011. Amongst the participants, there were academics, NGOs,observers from the Pacfic Island Forum Secretariat, Vanuatu Electoral Commission, Solomon Island and media. The Governor for NCD Hon Powes Parkop was a guest of Honor who opened the workshop. The two day session covered the aspect the OLIPPAC and to move forwards since the High Court Decision in 2010 nullifying sections of OLIPACC as unconstitutional. In this four day workshop the GAIRE Dialogue was drawn up. Click here to see more pictures

On  Wednesday the 8th September,2010 the Registrar of the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates Commission, Sir Kina Bona brought a number of representatives from the National Research Institute, the Center for Democratic Institutions at the Australian National University, Canberra and staff of the Commission to organize a special Policy Workshop to be attended by selected experts and consultants both from within the country and abroad to find solutions to the OLIPPAC situation in the light of the recent Supreme Court decision.

Sir Kina said that “We must take time and careful consideration to do this properly and not rush for a quick fix solution which might not be in the interests of the Nation. Political stability and the integrity of politicians and political parties are of paramount importance and therefore we need to ensure that how we go about achieving that goal is proper and legally correct as required by the Constitution. We must research and critique the options or proposals available to us. We need to consult the views of all sectors of the society which is not an easy task. Political parties will no doubt be major participants in this exercise.”

In the interim, a Working Committee comprising of Dr. Ray Anere, Dr. Musawe Sinebare, Dr. Alphonse Gelu from the National Research Institute, Dr. Grant Harrison from the Center of Democratic Institutions, Australian National University, Dr. Orovu Sepoe, Dr. David Anere and Peter Wotomu from the Registry. Other members of the Working Committee have been identified but have yet to confirm their participation. This Committee will begin the task of planning and organizing the Special Policy Workshop to be followed by a National Forum/Dialogue immediately after the meeting.

The task of the Policy Workshop will be to engage in a comprehensive political and institutional review and to brainstorm the issues at hand and to come up with tangible and meaningful solutions.
 Some of the crucial questions facing OLIPPAC are: What should we do next, now that the teeth of the guard dog have been removed? Do we legislate again and if so what and how do we do that without breaching the Constitutional rights of Members of Parliament?

The Policy Workshop which is tentatively scheduled for the 21st – 23rd February, 2011 will be followed by a National Dialogue/Forum the aim of which is to seek public opinion for an alternative solution.

The staging of the PNG Association of Administrative Professionals (PNGAAP) was held on the 24th- 27th of August 2010 in Kokopo, East New Britain Province. In attendance were various administrative professionals from various government departments including NGOs from across Papua New Guinea. Amongst the participants were the Registry staffs (Janet Mallian, Henao Lister, Lorraine Wotomu, Marie Fraghi and Susan John) from the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates Commission (IPPCC). A lot of important topics were discussed at the forum including roles of globalization, admin professionals’ roles, challenges and changing roles of admin professionals in national development. There were a number of invited speakers including Secretary of Works, Mr Joel Luma, Ms Petrolina Amon from the National Disaster Office and Ms Emma Kaul, President of Women in Maritime. The conference also witnessed the launch of the East New Britain Chapter of the PNGAAP.

Every year awards are presented for the Outstanding Administrative Professionals and this year saw Marie Fraghi an Executive Assistant within the Funding and Disclosure Division of IPPCC bagged the first prize in the junior category. The first runner up went to the Gas Project Office while the second runner up went to Office of Rural Development. In the senior category the first placing went to Department of Personnel Management followed by the first runner up from Transport Department and Walo Maguli from the Department of Prime Minister taking the second runner up.

More pictures in our gallery

A five day intensive workshop was held on the 16 – 20th of August in the Central Province focused on Gender and Election which saw political party executives and staff of the Integrity of Political Party and Candidates Commission attending. Facilitators and organizers of the workshop UNIFEM marked this occasion as a first of its kind in the Pacific to be run by the UN Organisation. In closing the workshop, the Registrar of Political Parties Sir Kina Bona encouraged more workshops to focus political parties on issues that enable them to develop appropriate policies and select quality candidates to assume leadership roles at the national level or the local level governments. The workshop concluded with presentations of certificates to participants and also recognized one of the facilitators (Grace Nari) who is now fully accredited as a UNIFEM facilitator.

Thanks to the five facilitators; Ms Jeanette Bolenga, Ms Hamidan Bibi, Ms Catherine Natera, Gabriel Kaugla and Grace Nari.